Posts by Doubting Bro

112

Congregation Reassignments in Ohio?

from what i understand, a letter was read this past week in regards to congregation reassignments and that the elders want to meet with people at their homes to tell them where they have been reassigned.

obviously, this would be due to the merging and dissolution of congregations.

can anyone confirm this?.

Doubting Bro

I think what is interesting is they had a talk on the RC that had a video that depicted a KH being reassigned and the reactions of the various members. To me, that signals that actions such as we are seeing in OH will continue to play out. From a business point of view, now that they really own the buildings (sort of) ,its much easier for them to right size the KHs to maximize their usage. It makes sense but if you really are concentrated on growing, why would you close shops. The money grab a few years ago and the promise to build new or renovate existing KHs was to allow them to cash out these under used assets. But, what I think surprised them is the blowback they are getting. But, it's been my experience that most will complain then comply. The average JW that somewhat believes will be annoyed but its not like they are going to leave. The consequences of leaving are so high.

Morph, one counter point. The last Pew survey indicated that the JWs in the US are getting old and continue to skew that way. Sure, you see plenty of young folks at some congregations, but there's a ton of grey hair or no hair out there.

I think the long term outlook is significant decrease, but the short to medium outlook is minimial growth followed by slight decreases. It will be death by a thousand cuts and that takes a long time. I hope I'm wrong and that the whole thing blows up tomorrow!

68

Cart work faces headwinds.

by lastmanstanding in

my little bethel bird has whispered in my ear some encouraging news.

it has been reported to the canadian branch that some witnesses doing cart work had police stop them from carting in public parks.

the direction sent to the southern ontario congregations is to cease carting until further notice.. this is no joke.. have a jw-free day..

Doubting Bro

lastmanstanding - that's hilarious!!! Didn't they have something in a drama where a 1st century elder was reviewing the congregation's publisher record cards? I wouldn't put it past them.

68

Cart work faces headwinds.

by lastmanstanding in

my little bethel bird has whispered in my ear some encouraging news.

it has been reported to the canadian branch that some witnesses doing cart work had police stop them from carting in public parks.

the direction sent to the southern ontario congregations is to cease carting until further notice.. this is no joke.. have a jw-free day..

Doubting Bro

Where I live, the cart work is very much alive. The local congregation has a schedule posted on the "information board" that shows the times and individuals assigned. One is set up near the courthouse where there is some foot traffic and the other is set up at the local train station. They also participate in a metro plan where they set the cart up in populated areas.

Most JWs I know love the carts. It's super easy time. You stand or sit around, drink coffee and occasionally talk to people. If I were still going in FS, I'd be spending the bulk of my hours doing that instead of knocking on doors.

51

Don't even try it!

by JTrottigy in

jw
friends

there are many here who think they can infiltrate my web-site.

be warned that we administrators of jwtalk call the listed congregation on your application for membership in our site to verify if they know you!.

some of you have slipped through the cracks and got into our site, but rest assured, we will find you out and ban you!.

Doubting Bro

LOL. How do you define win?

27

Corporate Virtue Signalling At Your Expense

by Simon in

the latest trend seems to be that you can't go to any store without being asked for money.. no, not the money for the things you went in there to purchase, extra money for the store to donate to charity.. yes, that's right, the big-name stores, often making $millions in profits, ask you to give them extra money so that they can give it to charity and get some publicity about how awesome they are so that they'll look good to their customers, like, erm, you.. it seems to have ramped up more in the last year or so and frankly, it pisses me off.

if i want to donate to some cause, i'll give the money straight to them.

i hate that it puts people on the spot to guilt them into donating and imagine some people on a tight budget may give even when they can't really afford it.. often you don't know what the charities really are (it's vague like "to help children") or how the money will be spent or even how much will go on the people it's supposedly to help (charity is a multi $billion industry, some just exist to pay themselves).. so what to do?

Doubting Bro

I just say not today and move on. Not really concerned with what a random stranger thinks about me. It's not an efficient way to support whatever charity you like but I'd imagine the charities still benefit. I'm sure the stores get something out of it or they wouldn't do it

6

A question regarding RC/DC changes

by no-zombie in

with the rumored changes or deletion of the regional/district conventions ... does anyone know if the organization will cancel them all together or just reduce their duration from 3 to 2 days, so they can be slotted into local assembly halls easier?.

no-zombie.

Doubting Bro

No changes from any reputable sources. More wishful thinking than anything else. THey make a ton of cash off those. When they get to the

point he RCs stop being profitable they will cut but not before.

39

This year’s convention

by lastmanstanding in

two things i noted at this year’s rc.

1) the new teaching with respect to matthew 25:45 which was applied equally to the rank & file jw.

this teaching is also found in the watchtower study for last sunday.. then he will answer them, saying: ‘truly i say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of these least ones, you did not do it to me.. 2) the new armageddon video which was a big shift.

Doubting Bro

Agree that's a shift. And although I recall the talk I totally missed that. But I was likely browsing and just trying to make it through.

Guess the real question is why? As you point out, it's not because they give a crap about anyone. It's something that will be used to benefit Mother

39

This year’s convention

by lastmanstanding in

two things i noted at this year’s rc.

1) the new teaching with respect to matthew 25:45 which was applied equally to the rank & file jw.

this teaching is also found in the watchtower study for last sunday.. then he will answer them, saying: ‘truly i say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of these least ones, you did not do it to me.. 2) the new armageddon video which was a big shift.